Forgiveness

And forgive us …..    as we also have forgiven. Matthew 6:12

Are we serious about forgiving those who might have slighted or wronged us, whether in a small way or a massively huge way? Don’t gloss over the question. Give it the consideration it deserves in light of the words of Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer.

It is quite easy for us to wrong someone, whether deliberately, or even unintentionally, but it is another matter altogether to reach out in forgiveness, and importantly, to be sincere about it. There is the small matter of our pride which gets in the way, which means we will have to climb down publicly. The more people we have involved, the harder the climb down and greater the humiliation. We don’t like that, do we? I know I don’t.

If we are serious about claiming the name of Jesus, and calling ourselves Christian, we cannot ignore the words of Jesus which simply say, I will forgive you when you forgive your brother or sister. Ouch. Really? Is it that serious? It certainly is, and it will benefit us in ways we cannot imagine. After all, saying sorry releases you from the burden and guilt of unforgiveness, and lets you breathe easily again. Sure, your brother gets forgiven but I believe the bigger benefit is for the one who forgives!